Hiragana

I guess I do have to explain what Hiragana is :-) Hiragana is the most basic writing system used in Japanese. There are 46 different characters in Hiragana, and new sounds can be made by combining large characters with small characters and using certain special symbols. All Japanese words can be written in Hiragana, but it's usually used for particles and true Japanese words. Words borrowed from China are often written in Kanji, but I won't go into Kanji very much. Anything written in Kanji can also be written in Hiragana to simplify it if you don't recognize the kanji. A lot of Japanese video games use Hiragana, so it's a good idea to learn it. Words taken from other languages (like English) are usually written in Katakana, which will be taught on the next page.

Also, if you're writing in Japanese, it's important that you write the strokes in the correct order. Since I'm trying to teach you how to read Japanese, I'm not going to teach you the stroke order for now. If you want to learn the stroke order, you can go to the Teach Yourself Japanese website and click on "Java program to draw hiragana strokes." Also, if you're having trouble remembering all these, try writing them out by hand. For that you definitely should be using proper stroke order, so I'll try and get that done ASAP.

Here is a chart of all 46 Hiragana, followed by another chart that shows the romaji (roman) version of each character.

*These symbols are not used much any more.
**This symbol is pronounced like O, but is spelled as WO in most word processors. It's also sometimes written as WO in romaji, but it's usually O.

- VOWELS -

There are five vowel sounds in Japanese, and you should learn how to pronounce them correctly. It's essential to pronounce these vowels properly, because almost every symbol in Japanese contains a vowel. Try to learn proper vowel pronounciation and then be consistent for the other vowel sounds and you should do fine.

A-I-U-E-O

This is the symbol for A. Remember it well. This symbol is pronounced like "Ah." It is NEVER pronounced like the A in Apple. Most foreign A sounds are like "ah."

This is the symbol for I. Remember it well. It is NOT pronounced like "eye," it is pronounced as "ee" as in "wheeee!" Don't get used to this as the i symbol. Japanese symbols don't have names like our letters, their names are the same as their pronounciation. This is the "ee" symbol, but in romaji, it's written as i.

This is the U symbol, pronounced as "oo" as in "boo!" It is NOT pronounced like "look," and it's NOT pronounced as "uh."

This symbol is mispronounced most of all! It is the E symbol, but it is NOT, I repeat, NOT pronounced like our letter E. It is pronounced like the first e in "level." It is NOT pronounced exactly like the é symbol, which is pronounced more like "ay."

This is the symbol for O. This time, it IS pronounced much like our letter o. It's not pronounced like the word "owe," it's kinda hard to describe . . . it's just like O and nothing else. If you pronounce it like the word "owe," then it'll sound more like Japanese "OU."

- CONSONANTS -

KA-KI-KU-KE-KO

This is the KA symbol. This is just like english K with the Japanese pronounciation of A.

This is the KI symbol. It looks and sounds like a key. 'Nuff said.

This is the KU symbol. Just like a K with the Japanese U sound.

This is the KE symbol. It's much like the ke in "Ken," but without the n.

This is the KO symbol. English K with Japanese O.

SA-SHI-SU-SE-SO

This is the SA symbol. This is always pronounced like "sah" and never "say." So please don't pronounce Sayonara like "Say-oh-ne-ra."

This is the SHI symbol. Basically pronounced like the english word "she."

This is the SU symbol. I guess you can just pronounce it like "sue."

This is the SE symbol. Not say, not see, just "seh."

This is the SO symbol. Try to pronounce it more like "soh" and not like the english word "so."

TA-CHI-TSU-TE-TO

This is the TA symbol. Pretty much just like it looks.

This is the CHI symbol. Say "Cheese!"

This is the TSU symbol. It's used in the word "tsunami," but a lot of Americans drop the t and just say "soo-nah-mee." Don't do that. If you really can't figure out how to pronounce this, try saying Tatsu without the ta :-)

This is the TE symbol. Again, baka na gaijin love to butcher pronounciation by turning Karate into "kuh-rah-tee." It should be pronounced more like "kah-rdah-teh." We'll get to that "rdah" soon, don't worry.

This is the TO symbol. Try not to pronounce it like "toe," that's a little too American. Try to pronounce it like "toh."

NA-NI-NU-NE-NO

This is the NA symbol, pronounced like "not" but without the t.

This is the NI symbol. We are the knights who say... NI!!! NI!NI!NI!NI!NI!NI!NI!NI!NI!NI!!! Go watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail if you can't figure out how to pronounce this. Or, well, just pronounce it like the word "knee."

This is the NU symbol. Its a bit more like "noo" and not "new." The difference isn't very noticable, though.

This is the NE symbol. We are the knights who say... ekiekigooblesdabaogashabeosdgiopaowideaoaoidgadoia. Don't watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail to pronounce this. It's not pronounced like "knee," it's like "neh." It isn't nay, it's neh... Okay, okay, no more Monty Python jokes.

This is the NO symbol. Just imagine the soup nazi: "NOH SOOP FO' YU!"

HA-HI-FU-HE-HO

This is the HA symbol. No noticeable difference between english "ha" and Japanese "ha." This is also the subject particle in a Japanese sentance, and when used as such, it's pronounced as "wa." Get used to it.

This is the HI symbol. The english word "he" is pretty close, but maybe give the H a little bit more umph.

This is the FU symbol. This is half-way between a HU and a FU sound. In english, an F sound typically involves curling the lip back to touch the upper teeth. Try saying FOO without letting your upper lip touch your teeth and that's closer. Maybe let your upper lip barely touch your upper lip, but don't curl it and don't touch it too hard. Get most of the F sound out of blowing harder.

This is the HE symbol. Again, this is not like the english word "he," it's like the english word "head" but without the d. This is also a Japanese particle used to mark a location towards which the subject goes. In such cases, it is pronounced just like the E symbol, i.e. "eh."

This is the HO symbol. It's not like english "hoe," it's more like the Happy Mask Salesman's laugh in Majora's Mask :-)

MA-MI-MU-ME-MO

This is the MA symbol. Just like "mom" without the last M, or like "mama."

This is the MI symbol. Just like english "me."

This is the MU symbol. Imagine a cow mooing.

This is the ME symbol. Meh, the pronounciation doesn't matter....

This is the MO symbol. Do not be tempted to pronounce it like "moe." It's more like "MOH."

YA-YU-YO

This is the YA symbol. Just like the Postman from Majora's Mask: YAH! For those of you who spend much time on the Internet, please don't pronounce this like "yeah."

This is the YU symbol. It's not quite like "you," it's more like "yoo." You can also just remember the soup nazi: "NOH SOOP FO' YU!"

This is the YO symbol. Again, don't be tempted to just say "yo, wassap?" it's more like "yoh."

RA-RI-RU-RE-RO

This is the RA symbol. Good luck pronouncing Japanese R's correctly without actually hearing it spoken properly. There's nothing like it in English, and there's not really any perfect way to describe it. People say that it's like a combination of R and L (that's why L is always translated as R, and R is frequently mistranslated as L), but I think it's closer to D as far as pronounciation goes. Be careful, though, be sure you aren't pronouncing it too much like D. The tongue basically flicks the part of the roof of the mouth that D pushes off from. The lips don't really do much, so it's not very close to an R sound sometimes. For RA, try saying LA and DA and somewhere in the middle should be RA. Good luck.

This is the RI symbol. Like the R from RA and the I sound of "ee."

This is the RU symbol. One of the more important pronounciations to perfect, since all strong verbs in Base-3 form end with RU. The R from RA and "oo."

This is the RE symbol. The R from RA and "eh."

This is the RO symbol. The R from RA and "oh." Do we see a pattern here?

WA-WI-WE-WO

This is the WA symbol. Wahoo!

This is the WI symbol. Five bucks says you won't see this outside of this website. Just kidding....

This is the WE symbol. Five more bucks also say you won't see this outside of this website. Just kidding.... These two W symbols aren't used in modern Japanese. I've only seen these on the aforementioned other Japanese website and in my Japanese Word Processor.

This is the WO symbol. It's pronounced like O instead, since this is the direct object marker.

- DAKUTEN / HANDAKUTEN -

This is an interesting concept. Instead of having seperate symbols for the rest of the consonants, pre-existing consonant symbols are given either a dakuten (") or a handakuten (o) to change how they are pronounced. I won't go through all 25 symbols, I'll just cover the TA column and any inconsistencies.

�> This is the KA symbol with a dakuten added to make GA. Not much to say, the K row is simply GA-GI-GU-GE-GO.

�> This is the SA symbol with a dakuten added to make ZA. This applies to ZA-ZU-ZE-ZO only.

�> This is the SHI symbol with a dakuten added to make JI. This is pretty much pronounced like the English letter G.

�> This is the TA symbol with a dakuten added to make DA. This only applies to DA-DE-DO.

�> This is the CHI symbol with a dakuten added to make JI. This isn't as common as SHI with a dakuten, but I have seen it.

�> This is the TSU symbol with a dakuten added to make DZU. Not very common, but when you do see it, it's a bit more like DZU, but it's always romanized as DU.

�> This is the HA symbol with a dakuten added to make BA. Useful for making words like "baka." This is used for BA-BI-BU-BE-BO.

�> This is the HA symbol with a handakuten added to make PA. The handakuten is only used for PA-PI-PU-PE-PO.

- COMBINATIONS -

The three symbols in the Y row can be shrunken and placed after the I symbol from each row to make the sounds kya, kyu, kyo, sha, shu, sho, cha, chu, cho, nya, nyu, nyo, hya, hyu, hyo, mya, myu, myo, rya, ryu, and rya. Adding small ya, yu, and yo to the fu symbol make fya, fyu, and fyo. Here are a couple examples:

This is the KI symbol followed by a small YA. This makes a sound like KYA. Notice how it's a bit difficult to notice the difference between KIYA and KYA. That's why it's important to write your Japanese symbols equal in size and space. Compare the two:

This is the SHI symbol with a small YA. This makes a SHA sound. This can be used to make SHA, SHU, and SHO.

This is the CHI symbol with a small YA. This makes a CHA sound. This can be used to make CHA, CHU, and CHO.

This is the HI symbol with a small YA. This makes HYA.

This is the FU symbol with a small YA. This makes YA, pronounced like "FYA."

- SYLLABIC N -

Whoops! I almost forgot. Ahem... last but certainly not least in any way is the N character:

This is the N symbol. It comes in the middle of words and at the end of words. Whenever it comes before a B, M, or P, it's pronounced a bit more like M. How are you supposed to remember B, M, and P? Just remember "bmp," the file extension for a Windows bitmap. For those of you who are less computer literate, just remember bump and take out the vowels :-)

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